Star Wars has been dying for me a little more each year so at this point I don't really care who owns the brand anymore. They'll just vomit our more disappointing stories with 10 gazillion merchandise tie-ins. Search your feelings. You know this to be true.

Blue Squadron wrote:The only thing that makes me wonder a little is what all this really means for George Lucas himself? It seems a little odd that he talks about handing over to the next generation "within his lifetime."

Supposedly George really buys into this Mayan Calendar/2012 thing, and thinks this is it. I've heard that in multiple places. So maybe he thinks he's cashing in before the end? And if it doesn't come to pass, guess who's $4B richer?

As for Disney running things...well, the Avengers didn't suck, and didn't seem vastly different from any of the other Marvel movies. My biggest fear is that Disney will continue to push a kid-friendly agenda, and IMO gearing things to children has been the downfall of the series ever since the cuddly Ewoks in ROTJ. The Clone Wars series could be a lot better...but it's kept deliberately simple and stunted because at its core, it's a children's cartoon show.

And as for expanding the line...me too pushing the Zahn trilogy, or at least something based off of it. Still by far the best EU series, though the first 4 X-Wing books were pretty good too. I'm hoping we can somehow erase the abortion that is the New Jedi Order series from history...because I know we all were looking for the Vong Lego sets, I mean a UCS coralskipper would be totally...boring...

I personally can't wait, even the worst of Star Wars brings me back to that magical universe we all love to escape to. And don't forget Star Wars has always been "PG", and who's better at "PG" than Disney?

Mister Ed wrote:The thing that kind of worries me is that from some of the quotes I've read, it SEEMS like Lucas is of the impression that the next movies are just going to be other people taking his own stories and making movies from them, with him advising as creative consultant. At this point, that is NOT what I want to hear, if true.

Why not? That seems like the best route to go with for new movies- Lucas is a great ideas-man and storyteller, but generally falls flat in the execution department. Having other people in the creative department would be a really good thing, I would think.

He already had other people in the creative department. I'm not sold on the genius of Lucas as an "idea man", given some of the stinker ideas he's had mixed in there with the good ones. Him not directing is a step in the right direction (and hopefully he won't be let anywhere NEAR the scriptwriting process), but the picture I'm getting of him writing the story and then hanging over the shoulders of those responsible for bringing it to the screen is making me wonder how fresh a take on Star Wars we will really get.

Bellicose wrote:Supposedly George really buys into this Mayan Calendar/2012 thing, and thinks this is it. I've heard that in multiple places. So maybe he thinks he's cashing in before the end? And if it doesn't come to pass, guess who's $4B richer?

You obviously didn't hear the end to that "story". It was just a rumor that Seth Rogen started, and was quickly debunked by Lynne Hale of Lucasfilm (pretty humorously, by the way. I recommend reading her response.).

Bellicose wrote:Supposedly George really buys into this Mayan Calendar/2012 thing, and thinks this is it. I've heard that in multiple places. So maybe he thinks he's cashing in before the end? And if it doesn't come to pass, guess who's $4B richer?

You obviously didn't hear the end to that "story". It was just a rumor that Seth Rogen started, and was quickly debunked by Lynne Hale of Lucasfilm (pretty humorously, by the way. I recommend reading her response.).

Well, denied anyway. Debunked implies providing proof to the contrary, though I'm not sure what that would be. As far as I know, Rogen hasn't admitted that he made it up or anything, so it is really his word against George's.

That said, I don't really believe that Lucas is serious about the world ending in 2012.

Wow - I always figured Star Wars would have to be PRIED from GL's cold, dead hands! But this!!

Like others, I'm sort of numbed and distant with regard to new SW prospects, largely due to the unwatchable (IMHO) prequels. So I say what the heck! However, the thought of a Disney logo preceding a Star Wars film is...a disturbance in The Force to say the least. Time will tell, I'm optimistic and skeptical all at once - let the games begin.

Blue Squadron wrote:The only thing that makes me wonder a little is what all this really means for George Lucas himself? It seems a little odd that he talks about handing over to the next generation "within his lifetime."

Supposedly George really buys into this Mayan Calendar/2012 thing, and thinks this is it. I've heard that in multiple places.

Blue Squadron wrote:It seems a little odd that he talks about handing over to the next generation "within his lifetime." Clearly, he makes a lot out of this deal as the owner of Lucasfilm and I'm not aware of any rumours of Mr Lucas having problems with his health but that's an odd phrase to use and it does make me wonder why he has chosen *now* to make this move?

Do keep in mind, brotha turned 68 this past May. Dude might just be pragmatic.

Walter Boy wrote:I wonder if John Williams will return for the music. That's one thing I loved not just in the original films, but the prequels as well. I hope if he has to be replaced, the music still has the same feel that the saga has .

As much as a fan of John Williams as I am, I do not find his more modern work to be that great. His prequel score didn't have much of the "same feel" as his OT score, IMO.

30+ years ago he used to knock mind-blowing scores out of the park. SW, ESB, Raiders, Superman, ET, all superb!! By the time The Last Crusade came out it already sounded like he was running out of his creative inspiration. He started putting out a lot of "meh...".

dWhisper wrote:As for the Thrawn trilogy, I wouldn't say it's the best of the EU (I'd say Shadows of the Empire or some of the Old Republic stuff, or even PT stuff like I, Jedi or the like) would get that. It simply was the most cohesive.

I was wondering when someone was going to bring up Shadows. That book is not even in the same league as any of the ones Zahn wrote, IMO. Steve Perry has a very juvenile writing style, and there were lots of things about his writing that made shadows not feel very Star Wars-y at all. A lot of people probably like the time period that story was set in (I do), and there was all the cross-merchandising promotional HYPE (action figures, video game, comic?), but the actual book really wasn't anything special. I was disappointed.

He almost looks reluctant here. I'm really curious as to what's going through his head.

Inzane wrote:As much as a fan of John Williams as I am, I do not find his more modern work to be that great. His prequel score didn't have much of the "same feel" as his OT score, IMO.

Ah yes perhaps in some ways it was different, but it still is great in my eyes (or ears?). I feel he beats a good deal of other composers in the long run. Are you saying you'd rather see him replaced for these new films? If so, any ideas who would be a good replacement?

I just realized how odd it will seem to have a Star Wars film preceded by anything other than the 20th Century Fox fanfare. As a kid, that bit of music became so strongly associated with Star Wars in my mind that I can distinctly recall hearing it before some OTHER Fox production and assuming Star Wars was coming up, then being bitterly disappointed when that wasn't the case. Having Cinderella's Castle lead in to a Star Wars movie is going to be...odd.

Walter Boy wrote:Are you saying you'd rather see him replaced for these new films?

No, no. Despite my thinking his PT score was not as-good, he is still the first best choice for the job. However, we shouldn't think that others couldn't add something.

Take for instance the Star Trek film series. The transition between Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner worked extremely well. Their style and flare worked perfectly for their respective films and yet they both somehow worked together to still feel star-trek-y.

...Having Cinderella's Castle lead in to a Star Wars movie is going to be...odd.

Exactly.

Hopefully they acknowledge this time honored 20th Century Fox sequence by toning down all the magical kingdom crap, and make it a bit ominous in the style of the Warner Bros. openings for movies of less sing-songy content.

This was and is still a huge shocker. But like many of you have said I'm hoping for the best.

And it will be interesting to see how hey handle the post OT films. I'm curiouser to see if they use the novels as source or if they take Lucas's stance on movies being separate cannon from novels, comics and games.